In a 30 year association with Asia (including 20 years based in Asia, primarily in Thailand and also Singapore), Dr. Abonyi has held senior advisory positions with governments, international institutions and corporations, including as long-term advisor in Thailand since 1983 (Senior Advisor, National Economic and Social Development Board, Office of the Prime Minister, 1983-2001), for which he was awarded a Royal Decoration by HRM the King of Thailand in 1992; Senior Advisor to the Myanmar’s Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development 2012–2013 (through Asian Development Bank’s Myanmar Program); Asian Development Bank (ADB: Senior Advisor, Central Asia/China Regional Cooperation Programme; Strategy and Policy Dept.; Senior Advisor, Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Programme 1992-2001; Economics and Research Dept.; Thailand and Vietnam country programs); UNDP (Team Leader on Silk Road Regional Cooperation involving China/Central Asia, 1997-98); continuing role as Senior Advisor with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP: private sector development in the GMS); Executive Director, Asia Strategy Forum (2000-2003); assessment of SMEs and ASEAN Economic Community 2015 (AEC 2015) for the ASEAN Economic Ministers SME Working Group (through ERIA); and senior advisor to the General Secretariat for Development Planning (GSDP) and the Task Force on Economic Management, Government of Qatar (2008-2011).

Dr. Abonyi's corporate advisory work in Asia has included issues related to corporate strategy; competitive and investment strategy; project finance and public-private partnership; and corporate restructuring.

Dr. Abonyi has held senior academic (full time and visiting) and research positions University of Ottawa; Anderson School of Management, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA); National University of Singapore (NUS) and Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID); Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore; and lectured/published/commented widely on Asian issues.

Dr. Abonyi received his B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Toronto (1971); M.A. in Economics and Systems Planning from York University in Toronto (1972), and his Ph.D. in Strategic Management/Management Science, from the Graduate School of Management (now the Anderson School of Management), University of California at Los Angeles (1978).